Drones to be deployed at S. Korea's largest port to to monitor smuggling

SEOUL -- South Korea's largest seaport will utilize surveillance drones next year to monitor smuggling activities that take place in the blind spots of security cameras and human security officers.

The port in the southern city of Busan said on Monday that it will invest 1.15 billion ($990,491) won to adopt 10 surveillance drones equipped with thermal and night vision cameras and powerful optic features such as 30x zoom capability. Buoys attached to them will prevent an accidental fall in the sea.

"Because drones are able to send camera footage to the control tower in real-time, we think we will be able to reduce the number of blind spots," a customs official was quoted as saying. When drones are deployed in May next year, all conventional analog surveillance equipment will be replaced with digital ones.

Busan accounts for 75 percent of South Korea's total freight cargo. It is big enough to harbor 201 cargo ships at once and is capable of storing more than 1.3 million tons of cargo containers. According to South Korea's customs office, the main items of smuggling through Busan include drugs, cigarettes and sometimes gold bars.